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Witt/Thomas Productions
Background: Witt/Thomas Productions was a production company that was formed in 1975 when Paul Junger Witt joined with Tony Thomas, the son of legendary comedian Danny Thomas. In 1976, the company was renamed to "Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions" when writer and Witt's wife, Susan Harris, joined the company with their first series, the controversial ABC hit Soap, premiering a year later. In the 1980s, the company was renamed back to "Witt/Thomas Productions", but the Witt/Thomas/Harris name continued to be used until the 1995 series finale of the NBC hit Empty Nest (a spin-off of The Golden Girls). (September 1975-June 25, 1997) wittthomasharris.JPG wittthomasharrisemptynest.JPG|''The Golden Girls'' "Empty Nest" error Logo: On the closing credits, we see this text, often in a Clarendon Bold font on most shows produced by the company: A''' '''WITT THOMAS HARRIS PRODUCTION Variants: *On the company's first two productions, the short-lived sitcoms Fay and Loves Me, Loves Me Not, the text appears in a different font and is read as "A Danny Thomas Production". *During its later years, it was referred to as "A WITT/THOMAS PRODUCTION", although this variant of the logo was first seen on It's a Living as well as the short-lived 1983 ABC sitcom Condo, which was seen with a copyright notice. *On Brotherly Love, CBS' short-lived Pearl, later episodes of Blossom, and The John Larroquette Show, the "Witt/Thomas" in-credit name was shown outside of the credits and placed on a black background with a gradient shade of blue to make it seem like an outside logo. *On Beauty and the Beast (1987), the two names are separated by a hyphen instead of a forward slash and superimposed into the credits. *On the short-lived series Woops!, the company name is placed in a dark blue background, and the two names are separated by a hyphen. *During the 3rd and final season of Nurses, this logo was in a double-font combo, much like the closing credits from that season. *On later seasons of Benson, the very short-lived 1985 sitcom Hail to the Chief, and the episodes of It's a Living aired in first-run syndication, the copyright notice is in the Helvetica font. *On the Blossom episode "Rockumentary", instead of the usual in-credit logo, the logo is in a pink color at the bottom of the screen on a black background with a live action shot of Dreyfuss, the dog from Empty Nest, inside a circle (which is also in a pink outline) with the barking being dubbed by Blossom (Mayim Bialik). *On the final season of Empty Nest, it was shown on a black/blue background with the name in the typical Witt-Thomas-Harris Bold Clarendon font. *On the S2 Golden Girls episode "Forgive Me, Father", the text is presented on black background, following a dedication to Dick Gilbert, who died the year it aired, 1987. *Later in the season, on the episode "Empty Nest", the "A" is replaced with a line, making the text appear as "_ WITT THOMAS HARRIS PRODUCTION". FX/SFX: None, but the scrolling of the credits on Soap and Benson episodes from 1977-80, Fay, Hail to the Chief, some 1984-86 episodes of Benson, and the pilot episode of It's a Living, as well as the fading in on the "Forgive Me, Father" variant. Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the show. Music/Sounds Variant: Beginning in 1994, NBC airings used their generic theme. This applies to the final season of Empty Nest and seasons 2-4 of The John Larroquette Show. The same goes for CBS airings of Pearl. Availability: Seen on Soap on IFC and Logo, Benson, The Golden Girls on Hallmark, Empty Nest on LAFF, Nurses, The Golden Palace, Blossom (when it aired on Hub Network, now known as Discovery Family), Beauty and the Beast on Chiller, and Brotherly Love. It was also seen on The John Larroquette Show, Minor Adjustments, Muscle, It's a Living, and the short-lived 1980 sitcom I'm a Big Girl Now, among others. Category:Television Category:1975 Category:1997